40 Delicious Easter Recipes

By The editors of MidwestLiving.com
Updated March 03, 2021
Credit: Jacob Fox

Make your Easter menu memorable with our ideas for breakfast, brunch or dinner.

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Waffle board

Credit: Jacob Fox

Take the grazing board idea to your Easter breakfast or brunch table with a waffle smorgasbord. You can make it healthy (as we did), with fresh and dried fruit, cottage cheese nut butter, honey, toasted coconut and cocoa nibs. Or, you know, there's always whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

Ours has Midwest-made Lopaus Point Waffles (gluten-, dairy- and soy-free), available online and in stores, but you can make your own, too!

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Cherry-Glazed Ham with Fresh Basil

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When shopping, look for a ham with the lowest possible percentage of water. Choose an unglazed ham, and if your ham comes with a glaze packet, discard it. While you can choose either the butt half or the shank half, the butt half will give more succulent texture and a more distinct flavor.

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Double-Malted Easter Snack Mix

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Malted milk powder and chopped malted Easter egg candies give this festive sweet-and-salty springtime snack mix a double hit of malt-shop flavor.

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Tiny Quiche

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Prebaked phyllo shells (available at large supermarkets) make this party-perfect recipe an absolute snap to make-start to finish, you'll be done in 35 minutes.

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Hot Cross Buns

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Soaking the currants in balsamic vinegar gives them a slightly tangy flavor that contrasts well with the rich dough of this classic Easter bread.

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Spring Potato Salad

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This lightly sweet potato salad is a great way to use up leftover Easter ham.

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Herb-Crusted Lamb Chops

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Brushed with mustard and coated with garlicky breadcrumbs, these petite chops are a quick alternative to a classic leg of lamb. The recipe comes from Andy Schudlich of Epicure Catering and Cherry Basket Farm in Michigan.

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Maple-Glazed Roasted Carrots with Ginger

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Whole-roasted carrots are an effortlessly glam side, perfect with ham. But the real genius here is the matchstick-sliced ginger that bakes with them. Candied in the glaze, it's a chewy, intensely gingery topping you'll be pinching right off the pan.

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Eggs Benedict with Maltaise Sauce

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What's Maltaise Sauce, you ask? It's just hollandaise sauce with a bit of orange zest and juice added. But you wouldn't believe how that bit of zing transforms this brunch standard.

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Easter-egg rolls

For Easter-egg rolls, thaw frozen dinner rolls (such as Rhode's) according to package directions. Gently form rolls into egg shapes; let rise 1 hour. For each color, in a small bowl, whisk 1 egg yolk,2 teaspoons water and food coloring. Brush "paint" on rolls. (For stronger color, do a second coat.) Bake as directed. Serve nestled in a basket.

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Honey French Toast with Macerated Berries

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Egg bread, extra egg yolks and half-and-half take a trusty diner classic to new levels of splurge. (Trust us, you won't regret going along for the ride.) Both the French toast and berries need to rest overnight, so this is an ideal make-ahead brunch dish. The recipe comes from The Birchwood Cafe Cookbook (University of Minnesota Press, $29.95).

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Bacon-Asparagus Strata

Credit: Kritsada Panichgul
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Asparagus, bacon and roasted red sweet peppers update a classic breakfast casserole mix of eggs, bread and cheese.

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Chai-Spiced Compote

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Inexpensive chai tea bags infuse Chai-Spiced Compote with the tongue-tingling flavors of ginger, cloves and cardamom. Because the recipe calls for frozen peaches and cherries, you can make this colorful fruit dessert year-round. If you're watching fat or calories, leave off the pecans and coconut and just enjoy the flavorful fruit.

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Garlic-Roasted Chicken with Lemons and Vegetables

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This flavor-packed dish combines garlic-infused chicken with perfectly cooked vegetables. Roasting the lemon in the pan brings out its flavor.

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Any-Flavor Mini Quiche

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Talk about easy! You can prep these delicious little quiches the night before, or make them in the morning while the oven preheats. They're perfect for brunch parties, and you can use whatever meat, cheese and veggies you have on hand.

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Grilled Lamb Chops with Feta Salad

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Feta cheese adds salty punch to a colorful salad from Chef Michael Symon. He recommends serving the salad with lamb chops, but it would work great with any grilled meat.

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Zippy Cinnamon Rolls

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Create these easy, gooey-good rolls by combining frozen bread dough and pudding mix. They'll taste like you spent all morning baking!

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Devilishly Good Deviled Eggs

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A hint of curry and some chutney elevate these deviled eggs to spectacular. Spoon the filling into a sandwich-size clear plastic bag and snip a corner for easy piping.

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Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Warm Blueberry Compote

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Rise and shine with these special-occasion pancakes from chef Mindy Segal of Mindy's HotChocolate Restaurant and Dessert Bar in Chicago. Ricotta makes them moist and rich; lemon curd gives sweet-tart punch.

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Smoked Salmon and Roasted Pepper Frittata

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Veggies and low-fat cottage cheese stretch the eggs in this frittata, a breakfast main dish that's both healthy and low-cost (about $1.75 a serving!). A little salmon or ham boosts the flavor.

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Blueberry Thunder Muffins

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A sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar gives a sweet crust to these berry-packed muffins.

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Spinach Quiche a la Goldmoor

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An easy-to-use frozen spinach souffle makes this quiche's eggy-sausage filling easy to prepare. The recipe is from the Goldmoor Inn near Galena, Illinois.

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Carrot Soup with Tarragon and Cream

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Thickened with a little potato and flavored with leeks, shallot, white wine and the faintly anise-y herb tarragon, this sleeper hit of a soup is subtle, springy and unexpectedly special.

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Hint-of-Orange Pancakes with Grapefruit Syrup

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This recipe couldn't be simpler! Just simmer grapefruit slices in maple syrup for a delicious, rosy compote to serve over waffles, French toast, crepes-or these subtly orange-flavored pancakes.

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Chocolanutty Banana Cake

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Dessert or coffee cake? It's up to you. A hint of orange rounds out the flavors.

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Greens, Eggs and Ham Potato Salad

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Loaded with protein and fresh greens, this is a simple yet flavorful potato salad. Paired with a fruit salad, it's almost hearty enough to eat as a meal.

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Maple Butter Twists

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These breakfast rolls are a family tradition with Jean Haviland of Carroll, Iowa. "My mom made these rolls with a maple-cream filling-and still does!" she says. "Mom always makes extra and freezes them for later. They're great for breakfast or any time of day!"

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Carrot Cake Pancakes

Treat all your little bunnies (and the big ones, too) to a short stack of veggie-flecked flapjacks.

Whip up your favorite plain, buttermilk or whole wheat pancake batter.

Stir finely grated carrot and pumpkin pie spice into the batter. If you like, add golden raisins. Griddle pancakes as usual. 

Combine an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple (partially drained) and an 8-ounce tub of cream cheese. Sweeten with brown sugar; top with nuts.

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Patsy's Egg Casserole

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Geri Boesen credits her mother-in-law, Patsy, for creating this easy sausage-and-cheese brunch recipe, a popular food at family holiday gatherings. "It's nice because you can make it the day ahead and put it in the fridge overnight," Geri says.

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Very Cherry Hazelnut Coffee Cake

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David Dahlman of Chatsworth, California, says this yeasty coffee cake reminds him of the old-fashioned, down-to-earth treats on his grandmother's farm table. It takes time because it's a yeast-leavened dough, but there's no kneading required.

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Lazy Morning Sausage Pie

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Lyndy Ireland cooks breakfast favorites for her guests at Triangle Ranch in western South Dakota. She tops this Sausage Pie with refreshing salsa.

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Asparagus Scramble Biscuits

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This recipe starts with square bacon-flecked cornmeal biscuits you can make ahead. On Easter morning, scramble the egg-veggie mixture, fill the biscuits, and bake to heat and melt the cheese.

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Hash Brown Quiche

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Hash brown potatoes form the crust for this quiche recipe. To save time, start with frozen hash browns. 

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Herbed Egg-Potato Bake

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You can assemble the cheesy Herbed Egg-Potato Bake up to two days ahead and refrigerate it.

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Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Raspberry Sauce

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Kids will love helping make this Easter breakfast or brunch treat, but don't save it just for them—adults like chocolate chip pancakes, too! The raspberry sauce can be made ahead of time.

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